Chasm | 19: The Mad Trapper of Rat River

A mystery man appears on Rat River near Fort Mcpherson in the Northwest Territories in Canada. He appears to be a loner, but when the RCMP try to get close to them he would prove to be more than that....he would be lethal.
This episode was written, researched and produced by Erika Gwynn
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Music:
Matt Clarke - Conspirators
Ars Sonor - Efterdyningen
Broke for Free - Summer Spliffs

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This podcast contains graphic descriptions, explicitlanguage, and audio clips that may be
disturbing to some audiences. Listener discretionis advised. The Apex and the Abyss
presents The Chasm Episode nineteen, TheMad Trapper of Rat River. Albert Johnson

(00:34):
was born somewhere between the year eighteenninety to nineteen hundred. Little to nothing
is known about who he was,where he came from, or even if
he was truly named Albert Johnson.Quite frankly, Albert is completely shrouded in
mystery. His only claim to fameis the story you're about to hear.

(00:54):
It was around nineteen thirty one inthe Great White North, or what most
people call Canada, when Albert Johnsonfirst made his appearance in the Northwest territories
of Fort Macpherson. Albert arrived seeminglyout of thin air and was not a
very sociable individual. Everyone in thisarea knew each other, helped one another
out, and regarded each other asfriends within the community, but Albert made

(01:19):
himself an outcast from the start,and no one really understood why. The
people in the area that would seeand infrequently interact with Albert were not particularly
fond of him. To put itnicely, his presence made them feel uncomfortable,
like they had to look over theirshoulder, a feeling that they never
really had before he arrived. Hegave off untrustworthy and shady vibes once he

(01:44):
made his presence known. In nineteenthirty one, Constable Edgar Millen inquired about
Albert's background, but Albert gave uplittle to no information to the RCMP.
Albert at first set up a camp, but eventually he built a small cabin
for himself on the banks of RatRiver. You see, Albert, just
like many people in this area,was a trapper, but unfortunately he did

(02:07):
not have the required license to trapanimals in this area. According to reports,
those native to the land that Alberthad settled on had made formal complaints
that he was trapping illegally on theirland. More so, it appeared as
though Albert was sabotaging other trappers inthe area. He would either set off
the traps so no animals could getinto them, or hang them up in

(02:29):
trees out of his way. OnDecember twenty sixth, nineteen thirty one,
two constables made a sixty mile trekto Albert's cabin on Rat River. They
need to speak with him about theseallegations and address them if need be.
They assumed that Albert was home dueto the fact that smoke was billowing out
of the chimney of his cabin.They approached the door in a friendly,

(02:51):
non hostile manner, but were notmet with the same attitude. Albert Johnson
refused to acknowledge them when they triedto speak to him, and blocked the
windows so they couldn't see inside ofhis home. After a while, in
receiving no response from Albert, thetwo constables left and went to obtain a
search warrant so they could legally enterhis home. A few days went by

(03:12):
before the RCMP constables returned. Thistime they brought two additional men with them.
Again, Albert refused to answer hisdoor or acknowledged the men outside waiting
to speak with him. So atthis refusal, Constable King attempted to enforce
the warrant he obtained to enter Albert'shome, but he was met with an
onslaught of bullets. King was struckand his men returned fire into the cabin.

(03:36):
They would take their injured comrade backto the safety of Clavic and thankfully,
he would make a full recovery.The RCMP would return for a third
time. This time they were muchmore prepared. They now knew that Albert
Johnson was a hostile man. Theycame to Albert's cabin heavily guarded and armed,
ready for battle. Albert was shockinglyable to hold them off for three

(04:00):
old days. They did everything theycould to try and get him out of
the house, but they were metwith bullets. They would even throw dynamite
at his cabin to get him tocome out, but nothing was working.
It seemed as though Albert had anendless supply of food and ammunition because he
always returned fire and never relented.The RCMP would be forced to retreat again

(04:20):
because they did not have enough tokeep fighting Albert. At this point,
news of the RCMP's fight with themad Trapper had hit news outlets and radio
stations in Canada and America. TheRCMP were amping up to return to Albert's
cabin for a fourth time, butby the time they arrived, he was
long gone. He had taken abag full of supplies and headed out into

(04:44):
the wilderness of the Mackenzie River.Valley on foot. He had fashioned some
handmade snowshoes for his travels. Weknow so little about this man, but
what we do know is that heknew how to survive in the wilderness with
little to no means. Mounties huntedAlbert for weeks, but he crafty.
He barely left a trail for themto follow after he got the lead on
them, but eventually they found theremnants of his tracks again and resumed the

(05:08):
chase. When they caught up withAlbert at a camp he had set up,
another shootout ensued when they tried tocapture him. He fired on them,
and this time he shot and killeda member of the RCMP, Constable
Newte Milan. After the death ofMilan, Albert was able to slip away
yet again and disappeared into the wildernessonce more, out of sight of the

(05:29):
RCMP. It was as if hewas a ghostly apparition that they could just
see with their eyes and couldn't grabonto. It was clear that Albert was
very skilled in wilderness survival and evasion. It makes one very curious about what
his earlier years were like and howhe obtained such skills. For example,
during his time fleeing from the RCMP, Albert Johnson was able to cross over

(05:53):
the treacherous Richardson Mountain Range on foot, an almost impossible feat, but not
for him. He was deter rmondnot to be caught alive. After the
authorities lost sight of Albert again,they enlicited the help of Wilford May.
He was considered a flying ace,a pilot that was responsible for shooting down
other aircrafts during combat, which isexactly what Wilfrid did in World War One.

(06:16):
After the war, when Wilfrid returnedhome to Canada, he would become
a bush pilot. In February ofnineteen thirty two, the RCMP would hied
Wilfrid May to assist in bringing suppliesto those tracking Johnson and in their man
hunt. Since they were having somuch difficulty tracking him on the ground,
they hoped that an aerial view wouldprovide a trail. Luckily for them it

(06:39):
did. Wilfrid would spot footprints inthe snow, right in the middle of
a frozen river. It was amazingthat he spotted them at all, because
what was discovered was that Albert Johnsonwas cleverly masking his footprints in cariboo tracks.
However, in this instance he veeredoff from these animal markings, which
allowed Wilfrid to spot them from hisplane. Now it makes sense as to

(07:01):
why they were having such difficulties trackinghim all this time. Albert Johnson was
thinking a few steps ahead. TheRCMP and Wilfrid would follow these tracks for
a few days and eventually they wouldsee in the distance the man they had
been hunting for weeks, Albert Johnson. It was February seventeenth, nineteen thirty
two, on Eagle River. AlbertJohnson was spotted walking down the middle of

(07:25):
the frozen river and was surrounded atall sides by eleven members of the RCMP
and above by Wilfrid Mays. Ifwe have learned anything about Albert Johnson so
far, it is that he isnot one to go quietly into the night.
He never had any intentions of surrenderingto the authorities, and he planned
on going out fighting. Shouting athim, Mountes told him to surrender the

(07:46):
chase was over, but Albert refused. He attempted to run, but eventually
he threw himself into the snow tomask his body, and he used his
backpack and sleeping bag to cover himself, and then a firefight between himself and
the RCMP started. Albert Johnson wouldshoot and severely wound Sergeant Earl Hersey.
The sergeant, who was aiming atJohnson in a kneeling position, was hit

(08:09):
in his knee, left elbow,and chest with one shot. The force
of the impact from Johnson's bullet wasso strong it threw Hersey into the air,
and it is said that he practicallydid a cartwheel in the snow.
Johnson was preparing to shoot Sergeant Herseyagain when a shot entered his back,
severing his spinal cord. Johnson wouldcollapse to the ground, already dead.

(08:33):
Albert Johnson's body would then be transportedback to Clavic where an examination of his
belongings would occur, an autopsy wouldbe performed, and where he would be
buried in a local cemetery. Johnsonhad multiple gunshot wounds all over his body,
though during the shootout he barely faltered. This was a testament to his

(08:54):
brute strength. We already realized hisendurance from climbing mountains, but this is
something on a toe wully different level. Our CMP officials would be quoted saying
that he was tough as nails.Within his belongings, he had over two
thousand dollars in Canadian and American currency. He had handmade snowshoes, a rifle,
a hatchet, five pearls, andsome gold, some of which looked

(09:18):
as though they belonged in dental worklike teeth fillings. One thing that was
missing amongst his belongings was identification.Throughout the years since the altercation with Albert
Johnson, there have been many theoriesas to who he was. One family
believes he is their relative from NovaScotia named Owen Johnston, who they lost
contact with in nineteen thirty one.Another theory claimed that he was a man

(09:41):
from Norway. However, in twothousand and nine, Johnson's body would be
exhumed to test his DNA. Theywere not able to find any familial matches
to the man that we know asAlbert Johnson, but what they were able
to determine was that he was noteven Canadian, but most likely from the
Midwest in America. Many songs andbooks have been written about this unknown man.

(10:05):
It seems fairly clear that at thispoint we will never know his true
identity or his motives, But wecan always wonder who truly was the mad
Trapper of Rat River. Was hea recluse who just wanted to be left
alone? Was he an outlaw onthe run. We can only guess and
let our imaginations run wild with ideas. Thank you for listening to this episode

(10:33):
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(10:56):
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(11:20):
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